Do You Hear The People Scream?
by Maveriqua
Summary: "Do you hear the people scream. At the ghosts going 'round and 'round. They're tromping all around us. And yet making not a sound..." When the Les Amis plus Cosette get lost in storm on their way to the beach, a case of mistaken identity makes the trip more terrifying then they could have imagined. Modern AU. I own nothing!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Cosette ran along the hallway, towards the door to a room. Enough was enough. She was grabbing Marius and getting out of this freaky place. The floorboards creaked under her as she got to the door. She tried the knob. Locked. Cosette heard something breathing behind her. It was coming closer. She gave an hard shove, and the rusty lock on the door broke. She sprinted into the room, the window right across from her. The window... a means of escape. She jumped for the window and grabbed onto the ledge, ready to propel herself through the glass. She was stopped by something grabbing her leg.

Cosette pulled and tugged, but could not free herself. As her left hand slipped, Cosette pushed aside the gauzy curtains, looking out at the foggy night, wishing she could see the sun one last time. _Goodbye father, _she thought,_goodbye Marius, goodbye Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Enjolras, Joly, Jehan, and Grantire. _Only three fingers were holding on now. Now two. Now one. _Mother, I am coming._

And she was pulled into the darkness.

_My name is Cosette Fravelechant, and this is our story. My friends and mine. It's an unusual story, a story you probably won't believe. You'll think we're crazy. No, that's an understatement. Looney, barmy, off our rockers, completely insane is more like it. But our story's true. It's all true._

_Maybe that's the craziest thing._

_Cosette_

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**Hello and welcome to a new story! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: One Day Earlier

**One day earlier...**

Courfeyrac threw the last bag into the back of his SUV and shut the door. "All packed!" he called over his shoulder.

Marius shut the trunk of his own car and turned to Courfeyrac. "Same here."

Courfeyrac grinned. "Beach house, here we come!"

"Wait for me!" a lady called.

A young girl, about twenty-five, came down the steps of her family's bungalow. Behind her was an older man of about fifty. "...and remember, Cosette," he was saying, "if you get homesick..."

Cosette rolled her eyes good-naturedly and gave the man a kiss on the cheek, "I'll come straight home. Don't worry papa, I'll remember."

As Cosette got into Marius's car, the man said, "Marius, may I speak with you?"

Marius gulped and walked over to the man. Cosette's father scared him, really. Ever since Marius had learned about the fact that he was an escaped convict...

Cosette's father rolled his eyes. "Come on, I won't bite."

He put his hand on Marius's shoulder. "I know you love Cosette, and I know you have been married for almost a year. But let me say this. If one hair on Cosette's head is harmed while she is on this trip..."

His look told Marius the rest.

"Promise me that nothing will happen to her on this trip. _Nothing, _you hear?"

Marius nodded vigorously and practically ran back to the car. He jumped in the driver's seat and closed the door. Cosette looked at him worriedly. "He didn't give you a hard time, did he?" she asked, nervously twirling a strand of long brown hair around her finger.

Marius simply started the car. As they pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the neighborhood, Marius relaxed. After all, they were just going to the beach. What could possibly happen to them there?

* * *

Combeferre was desperately trying to keep the van upright. The rain and wind were pushing against the windows. It didn't help that in the back seat...

"I am not touching you! I am not touching you!"

" 'Ferre, Courf's trying to touch me!"

Combeferre sighed. "Courfeyrac, stop touching Jehan."

"But I'm not touching him!"

"I don't care! I'm trying to stop us from rolling over!"

Combeferre's phone rang. He picked it up. "Yes?" he snapped.

"Hello?" asked a timid female voice on the other side.

Combeferre winced. "Oh, sorry Cosette. Courf was trying to touch Jehan."

There were a few seconds of silence. "...right. Listen, Marius talked to this lady by the road and she says there's somewhere we can stay until this storm blows over."

Combeferre breathed a sigh of relief. "Where?"

In the other car, Cosette looked at the barely decipherable, sodden sheet the lady had given them. "122 Ocean Avenue."

Combeferre frowned. 122 Ocean Avenue. Why did that address sound familiar? "How far is it?"

"Not too far. Two blocks away."

Combeferre nodded. Later, he would look back on this and regret immensely what he said. Those two little words. Three, if you count the contraction.

"Let's go."

_That was it. That was how we landed at that house that night. October 14. The anniversary of the horrible event that had happened in the house years earlier. If only that woman hadn't shown up. If only I had remembered sooner. If only the paper had been more soaked, so Cosette couldn't have read the address._

_If only..._

_Combeferre_

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**And here is Chapter 2! Please review! Reviewers get cookies!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OMG. I am so sorry you guys! I haven't updated in so long! As a gift and apology, I will update two chapters today (maybe more depending how much writing I do today)! This one is short, sorry!**

**Thanks to Laveycee and Eternity Sword for pointing out the formatting errors, I don't know what happened.**

* * *

As the cars pulled up to the house, the wind grew even fiercer. The friends barely managed to get their bags out of the cars and stagger up the pathway to the house. They pushed open the unlocked door and almost collapsed inside. Actually, Courfeyrac did collapse on a sofa in what appeared to be the den. The room was comfortably warm, a drastic change from the storm outside.

Cosette sighed in relief and hung up her wet jacket. "Well, this is cozy." She looked around.

"Hello?" she called. "Anyone here?"

No response. The room was empty, except for the group. Combeferre looked around. "What a strange hotel."

As a matter of fact, it looked more like a house than a hotel. They were in a den, a fancy dining room off to the side, and another door on the far wall that was closed. There was a staircase that seemed to go up to a second floor.

"Hello?" called Cosette again.

"Hey, there's a note," said Courfeyrac, who had lifted his head from the sofa. He sat up and picked a piece of paper off the coffee table. The note read:

_Dear Guests,_

_Please feel free to stay until this storm is blown over. Bedrooms are upstairs if you wish to stay overnight. Breakfast is seven to eight a. m. tomorrow. Have a nice night._

_Rache Aus DeFeo_

_Owner_

"How strange," said Marius.

Everyone looked at Enjolras, the leader of the group. Enjolras frowned. "I don't like it," he said, "but with the weather like this, we don't seem to have any choice."

Thunder rumbled, as if to embellish his point. "We will have to stay the night."

Lightning flashed, making the lights flicker and bathing the room in an ominous glow.

* * *

_We should have driven in the storm._

_It would have been less dangerous and risky than staying that night._

_Enjolras_


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is the next chapter, which is hopefully a bit longer. Sorry again!**

* * *

Marius woke up suddenly. He wasn't sure why. Desperately, he tried to go back to sleep. But it was no use. For some reason, he just could not go back to sleep. Cosette shifted beside him in the bed.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

Marius shook his head. "Sorry I woke you."

Cosette shrugged. "I couldn't sleep either. I don't know why, but something about this place isn't letting me."

Marius groaned and laid his head down. Cosette touched his shoulder. "If you want, you can come downstairs with me to get some hot chocolate. I wanted to go, but the hallway was so dark I was kind of scared."

Marius got up. "Well, I'm not going to get any sleep anyway. Let's go."

The two went downstairs to see Courfeyrac and Combeferre, who had also shared a room, in the den. Combeferre looked up from the thick book he was reading. "Couldn't sleep either?" he asked.

Marius shook his head while Cosette went into the kitchen. He sat on the couch next to Combeferre.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

Combeferre looked up. "_Les Miserables _It's a book about many people in post-revolutionary Paris."

He glanced again at the book. "I don't know why, but it's giving me an odd sense of déjà vu..."

Cosette came back into the room, frowning. "No hot chocolate," she said.

"Someone day sobething aboud chocolate?" came Joly's voice from upstairs. He came down, blowing his nose, with Jehan, Grantire, and Enjolras following behind.

"Just that there isn't any," replied Cosette.

Enjolras groaned. "I'd take some warm milk. I have a paper to work on tomorrow…"

Cosette shook her head. "No milk either..."

Jehan frowned. "No milk?"

"…or fruit…"

"What kind of hotel doesn't t have fruit?" asked Enjolras.

"…or meat…"

Courfeyrac gasped. "No!" Combeferre elbowed him.

"…or vegetables…"

Most breathed a sigh of relief.

"…or bread…"

"Stop right there," said Jehan, frowning. "So far, we don't have chocolate, milk, fruit, meat, vegetables or bread…what do we have to eat?"

Cosette simply gestured for them to follow her, and they all filed into the kitchen. Marius looked around. Cosette was right, all the cabinets were open and empty. Cosette opened the fridge. Bare. There were not even cleaning products in the cabinets under the sink. Cosette turned the top on the sink. Nothing. Not even a drip of water.

"What the hell is this?" asked Courfeyrac. "No food, no water...how do we live?"

Jehan looked at Enjolras. "Could they be keeping it somewhere else?"

"That wouldn't make sense," Enjolras pointed out. "This would be the best place to keep it, especially in a house."

Courfeyrac threw up his hands. "How do we eat then? Cannibalism?"

Enjolras rolled his eyes. "Calm yourself. We can always find a grocery store."

"Easier said than done, Enjy," said Comebeferre, pointing outside, where the storm seemed to have grown worse.

Enjolras sighed. "Let's just go back to bed and…"

The lights went out.

"Oh, just great."

After the friends walked carefully back to the den, they found lit candles on the coffee table, semi-illuminating the room. Enjolras shook his head. "I really don't like this."

Cosette shrugged. "Considerate of them to leave a light, even with no food."

Suddenly, Marius tripped over something heavy.

"Are you all right?" asked Cosette, helping him up.

Marius nodded, picking up the object he had tripped over. "Who left this book here?"

Everyone looked at Combeferre. "It's not mine," he said, showing them the thick book still in his hand.

"Then who's is it?" asked Jehan.

Marius cracked open the book. "It's a diary."

Enjolras shook his head. "It's private. Don't read it."

"Read it!" the rest of the boys chanted. "Read it! Read it! Read it!"

"All right! All right!" shouted Marius as he began.

The diary talked about a young girl named Allison, who had lived in the house forty years previously. The girl detailed how her father abused her and her siblings. She talked about her older brother, Robert "Butch" Jr.,and how he and her oldest sister, Dawn, were becoming more and more dissatisfied with their home life.

"…and Butch and Dawn are doing something with friends in the basement," Marius read. "Mom is telling me to put this down and go to sleep. Good night."

Marius flipped the page and frowned.

"Whad id it?" sniffled Joly.

"That's it."

"Huh?"

"That's the last entry. There's nothing after," Marius explained, flipping through the book rapidly, making the book start to shake.

Jehan blinked. "Marius, slow down! You're making the book vibrate."

Marius stopped, but the book did not stop vibrating. It got even stronger, making Marius' teeth chatter. Suddenly, the book burst into flames. Marius yelped and dropped it. The fire went out before the book, now a pile of ashes, hit the ground. Marius sat down, breathing heavily, as the candles went out.

"Now what?" asked Enjolras.

Jehan worked furiously to light a match. When it was lit, it revealed something that no one had ever seen before. It looked mostly like a pig, except it stood on its two hind trotters, had glowing red eyes, and was wearing a black cloak.

Jehan's eyes widened. "Oh crap."

Moments later, the friends vacated the room, splitting off in separate directions.

It took Marius a while to realize two things: One, the pig thing was not following him, and two, neither was Cosette. Panting from exertion, he crept back into the den, to find a lit candle and Jehan waiting.

"Who all's here?" Marius asked.

Jehan looked around the room. "Grantire is passed out, Combeferre is trying to finish his book, Enjolras is in the corner, Courfeyrac is, for some reason, under the coffee table…"

There was a sneeze. "And there's Joly, you, and me."

Marius gulped. "Then… where's Cosette?"

There was a scream, and the friends turned swiftly. The door that had been closed was now open, and the carpet near it was ragged, as if someone had torn at it.

Marius grabbed a candle and lit it using Jehan's. "Come on!"

_Scariest._

_Moment._

_Of my life._

_Right._

_There._

_Marius._


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, I just started high school, so updates will be slower. I hope I can get this story done soon and work on the others... Sorry!**

**Here, have a cookie.**

**All good?**

**Good. **

**Warning: Pig creatures, mental urination, and severe OOCness ahead! You have been warned.**

This was madness. No... THIS WAS not Sparta, but Amityville, aren't you paying attention? But it _was_ madness. For one, it was Marius, of all people, leading the charge to a room where who knew what could be behind the door. Courfeyrac was miserable. He was not in the mood for this. It didn't help that Jehan was nervously whistling and making up a poem.

"Do you hear the people scream

At the ghosts going 'round and 'round

They're tromping all around us

And yet making not a sound

We are in a haunted house

So yes we are all scared

Seems Marius is the

Only one fright impaired."

"Fright impaired?" asked Courfeyrac.

"Yeah," said Jehan, "Like being hearing impaired except, you know, with fright."

Courfeyrac blinked. _Okay..._

The group wandered through the hall, which was surprisingly long. Either they were walking very slowly, or the house was bigger than it looked. But finally, they emerged in a room. The room was painted red, from the carpet to the ceiling. The whole effect was quite creepy, which Courfeyrac supposed was the point. In the middle of the room, a small figure in a nightgown was curled up in the fetal position, shivering.

"Cosette!" yelled Marius, running towards her. Cosette looked up fearfully. She appeared mostly unharmed, save for a scratch on her cheek. Marius ran towards her and they embraced, Cosette sobbing. "What happened?" asked Marius.

Cosette gulped. "It was... that pig thing... I tried to get away but... Marius, look out!"

Marius barely had time to look up, mentally pee his pants, and duck before a small statue sailed over his head and broke on the opposite wall. Courfeyrac turned to look for Marius's attacked and saw... an old woman in ragged, wet clothes.

"Y-you!" said Cosette, staggering to her feet. "You're the lady who g-gave me this address!"

Enjolras glared at the woman. "Why have you brought us here?"

The old woman smiled evilly. "But, my friends, do you not know what happened tonight?"

Courfeyrac blinked. "No, because we've been stuck inside a haunted house with no contact to the outside world."

The old woman glared at him. "I mean tonight, forty years ago you idiot."

Courfeyrac frowned. 'Well, you should have clarified."

Combeferre, however, looked thoughtful, then shocked, his eyes widening. "Oh, no..."

The old woman cackled. "Yes, you've figured it out."

Everyone looked at Combeferre expectantly. Combeferre gulped. "Forty years ago... true story... an entire family was murdered in this house by the oldest son."

There was silence. Courfeyrac facepalmed. "And you couldn't remember this when it was convenient? Say, BEFORE we got here and got locked in?"

Combeferre glared at him. "I couldn't remember because it was not convenient for the plot at that time."

"Well, it's not very convenient for us."

Combeferre shrugged. "Since when is it ever?"

"Enough!" screeched the lady.

Joly wiped his nose. "I ged dat it's tragic, but wad does dis have to do with us?"

The lady pointed at Marius. "Ask him."

Marius blinked. "Huh?"

The old woman smiled evilly. "Welcome home, Robert."

There was another silence.

"...the crap?"

_...That was random...Can we go now?_

_Combeferre_


	6. Chapter 6

**And I am done! I am so, so sorry I left you hanging! I wanted to finish this one before I moved on to another story. Hopefully, this conclusion is satisfactory. If not, feel free to write your own, I'd love to read it!**

**Mav**

"Yes, little Robert, you killed us. Your father, your mother, your sisters and brother."

Marius frowned. "Okay, what the actual crap? My name is Marius. My father was an officer in the army, and I didn't kill him."

"You lie."

Marius shook his head. "No, I'm not. Face it, you have the wrong guy."

"Shut up!" shrieked the woman. Wind began to blow around the room and the walls started to shake.

Marius grabbed Cosette's hand. "Let's go, guys."

"No!" shrieked the woman. Her muscles began to swell and bubble. She grew taller. Her face twisted.

"Run!" shrieked Cosette.

They did. Fast and hard. Back through the hallway, through the door, back through the front room, out into the rain, collapsing into the mud just as the house collapsed behind them.

Cosette clutched Marius and started sobbing. He hugged her. "Shhhh... it's okay, it's okay..."

Suddenly, something clutched Cosette's ankle. She screamed as she was dragged back towards the ruins of the house.

She looked behind her and saw the pig. "Come back!" it squealed. "I'm sorry! I just-"

It was cut off by a loud bang. The pig's hand (trotter?) loosened, it gave a squeal of pain and rage, and Cosette broke free.

She was grabbed around the waist and screamed and struggled.

"Cosette! Cosette! It's okay, sweetie! It's me!"

Cosette looked up at the man holding her. "Papa? Papa!"

It was. She hugged Valjean, who dropped the shotgun he was holding, and broke down in tears yet again. Valjean hugged her tight. "I knew something was wrong when you didn't check in." He glared at the others. "What happened here?" he snapped.

Combeferre shook his head. "It's a long, long story."

Valjean gestured to his car. "Explain on the way back. I'm taking Cosette home right now. Anyone else can come with or stay here for all I care."

Milliseconds cannot measure how short of a time it took for everyone to get packed into the car, with some laying on the floor and others sitting on each other's laps.

Valjean started the car and drove off. "Okay, explain."

Combeferre sighed. "It all started when we caught caught in a big storm. I was desperately trying to keep the van upright..."

Far, far, below the ruins, something stirred.

"I just want friends..." something whispered.

And the house rebuilt itself.

And another car pulled into the drive.


End file.
